Fashion: The social engine driving the game of belonging and exclusion

Source: The social mechanics of fashion: Equality within, exclusion without

"Just as 'honor' is fundamentally a class matter – that is, the individual derives his honor and moral rights from the very fact of belonging to a certain social circle and representing it – so too does fashion operate. Fashion has a dual role: on the one hand, it symbolizes the connection and unity among equals (within the same class), and on the other hand, it symbolizes the exclusion and differentiation of this group from the classes below it.

Human style – whether in manners, dress, or aesthetic judgment – is in a constant process of change. However, 'fashion' (in its innovative sense) is the exclusive domain of the upper classes. In doing so, the elites mark the internal equality among themselves, and simultaneously separate themselves from those below them.

This process creates a cyclical dynamic: the lower classes always look upward, and try to imitate the upper classes in areas accessible to them, such as fashion. However, the moment the masses adopt the fashion and succeed in imitating it, the upper classes immediately abandon it in favor of a new fashion. Thus they re-establish the separation between themselves and the broad masses."

Georg Simmel (Germany, 1905), On the Psychology of Fashion (translation), p. 24

Explanation: The double paradox: Being like everyone else and different from everyone else

Paradoxically, fashion does two opposite things at once—it makes me feel connected to my circle of equals, and it makes me feel distinct and separate from those "below" me.

The wealthy invent fashion to set themselves apart. The poor want to be like the wealthy and imitate them, and so fashion trickles down to the lower classes. Yet the moment the poor succeed in imitating the fashion, the wealthy feel that this fashion has been cheapened and soiled, and they flee to a new fashion to re-establish the gap. That is the engine that causes fashion to keep changing constantly.

Perspective: From fixed symbols to wandering costumes: Fashion as an engine of social mobility

Across the generations, humanity has found many ways to mark classes, families, cultures, and peoples: membership cards and affiliation with an order or a community, flags, distinctive clothing (such as a kippah, a skullcap, and tzitzit, ritual fringes), architectural styles (Jerusalem stone or Tel Aviv Bauhaus, for example), tattoos, language, religion and faith, rituals, and so on. The difference between ancient times and our own day lies in the way these symbols operate. In the past, symbols were fixed, without social mobility and without shifting classes, accompanied by exclusive and eternal privileges. Today, by contrast, there is social mobility—fashion that waxes and wanes, allowing people to disguise themselves, to slip into other classes. Fashion, not only in clothing but across all consumer goods, is what drives society forward.

Going Deeper: A lesson from the Roman Empire: The hidden power of disguised identity

The renowned Roman thinker Seneca (De Clementia 1.24.1) famously remarked: "How great the danger would be if our slaves began to count us." In other words, concealing differences in dress protected masters from rebellion. The ruling logic in Athens, where slaves dressed like their masters, was psychological: if slaves had a uniform, they would look around and realize the tremendous power they held. As long as a slave has no external identifying mark, he feels alone; he lacks "class consciousness."

In Sparta, on the other hand, slaves were required to wear humiliating, dehumanizing clothing, which provoked constant rebellion.

Culture: From the gods of Olympus to mega-brands: The new mythology of consumption

In their book The New Gods: The Mythology of Brands (Yedioth Books, 2020), ad executives Shmuel Warshavsky and Lilac Sigan frame the world of fashion as a direct continuation of the Greek gods of Mount Olympus. Whether we noticed it or not, mega-brands have become our new gods. The mythological gods descend from Olympus for the first time to meet their successors: the mega-brands. Three thousand years separate Nike, the goddess of victory, from the sneaker brand that bears her name. Three thousand years also separate Hermes, the messenger of the gods, from FedEx, the shipping god of our day; Cupid from Nokia, true to its slogan "Connecting People"; Dionysus, the god of wine, from Absolut Vodka; and Hades, god of the underworld, from the Hells Angels riding on Harley-Davidsons. It turns out that once we worshiped ancient gods, and today we worship the new ones: the brands.